as in refuses
to show unwillingness to accept, do, engage in, or agree to
I must pass up the offer to be chairman of this event
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Recent Examples of passes up
Around him, Turkey’s best ball progressors, Arda Guler and Hakan Calhanoglu, will frequently drop deep to pull the opposition out of shape and look for incisive passes up the pitch.
—
Thom Harris, New York Times, 5 June 2026
Graham fired a shot from just outside the box after a series of one-touch passes up the middle of the field.
—Los Angeles Times, 24 May 2026
Graham fired a shot from just outside the box after a series of one-touch passes up the middle of the field.
—ABC News, 23 May 2026
Tampa Bay passes up on a few top edge rushers here (Miami’s Akheem Mesidor and Auburn’s Keldric Faulk) because of the depth at the position and instead nabs McCoy before a few other corner-needy teams.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 23 Apr. 2026
And because Amazon never passes up an opportunity to throw a good sale, members just got extra lucky.
—Jasmine Gomez, Travel + Leisure, 15 Mar. 2026
McVay passes up the field goal and Stanford throws incomplete again.
—Tim Cowlishaw, Dallas Morning News, 27 Jan. 2026
Thom Harris, New York Times, 5 June 2026
Graham fired a shot from just outside the box after a series of one-touch passes up the middle of the field.
—Los Angeles Times, 24 May 2026
Graham fired a shot from just outside the box after a series of one-touch passes up the middle of the field.
—ABC News, 23 May 2026
Tampa Bay passes up on a few top edge rushers here (Miami’s Akheem Mesidor and Auburn’s Keldric Faulk) because of the depth at the position and instead nabs McCoy before a few other corner-needy teams.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 23 Apr. 2026
And because Amazon never passes up an opportunity to throw a good sale, members just got extra lucky.
—Jasmine Gomez, Travel + Leisure, 15 Mar. 2026
McVay passes up the field goal and Stanford throws incomplete again.
—Tim Cowlishaw, Dallas Morning News, 27 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for passes up
Verb
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Here, Colman Domingo’s renegade intelligence operative also refuses to tell anyone anything, but all the unspoken beats just feel like plot holes.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
10 June 2026
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And law enforcement refuses to investigate it.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
9 June 2026
Verb
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Taiwan’s government rejects China’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
10 June 2026
-
There’s already wide agreement within the denomination that its faith statement rejects the appointment of women as senior pastors who lead churches.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
10 June 2026
Verb
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That’s down to the 3D model producing a little less warming for a brighter Sun, the expectation that CO2 declines more slowly over time, and a slight expansion of the CO2 range believed to be survivable by plants.—
Scott K. Johnson,
ArsTechnica,
15 June 2026
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Scientists found that a protein called NOX4 naturally declines with age and inactivity.—
Kelly McGreal,
FOXNews.com,
14 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Passes up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/passes%20up. Accessed 16 Jun. 2026.
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